...Different Styles of Critical Thinking and Decision Making Charles Cunningham, Stacy Graham, Daniel Kaelin, Tresha Yarberry, MGT/350 August 22, 2011 Hank Reeves Different Styles of Critical Thinking and Decision Making Logical thinking, scientific thinking, creative thinking, and optimistic thinking are a few of the different thinking styles used for critical thinking. A person has to know what type of problem he or she is dealing with to know what type of critical thinking style he or she would need to use. Knowing the difference of these four critical thinking styles will help people use critical thinking better. Logical Thinking Philosophy defines logic as the study of the essential truths and methodical methods for clearly expressing and thoroughly representing such truths (Jones, 1995). Logical thinking relates to the consistency of the facts and the validity of arguments. Critical thinking most closely resembles the logical thinking style in the rawest form as it should be unbiased and only influenced by proven factual information. Logic looks to common sense to determine the best action to take based on the desired outcome. The scientific thinking style is the most similar to the logical thinking style because it is based on valid arguments for taking a certain action. It rules out emotional thinking because it is biased and influenced by what is wanted by the parties involved. Dan’s company uses a software program for procurement functions...
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...Phoenix Critical Thinking: Strategies in Decision Making March 20, 2011 Decision Making Paper Critical thinking has several different ways that help one come to a decision. While you are in the process of critical thinking, you do not even realize you are going through the different processes. The fact is, you are. Logical, scientific, and persuasive thinking are the three main types of critical thinking that will be compared. The first type of critical thinking is logical thinking. Again, you do not even realize that you are in the “logic” phase at the time. Thinking just happens. According to dictionary.com, logic is, “The science that investigates the principles governing correct or reliable inference.” In laymen’s terms, this means the way you come up with a solution to a problem, the process in which you take to get from point A to point B. Logical thinking is a process that can be learned to excel in thinking skills in this area. Some are born with a stronger grasp on their logical thinking than others. An example of this is math. (“Logical Thinking,” para 5) Not everyone is good at math. Some have a hard time wrapping their brain around an equation. Others just get it. The second type of critical thinking is scientific thinking. This type of thinking is more defined, much like a scientific experiment. With an experiment, there is observations, recording, organizing, all to come up with an end conclusion. Much like this process, the scientific thinking...
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...Thinking and Decision Making Thinking incorporates an individual’s thoughts through a process of carefully evaluating decisions so that a conclusion can be determined. Decision-making additionally involves implementing the proper steps so that the individual will reach his or her goals by making the right choices. The purpose of this paper is to present various concepts of different thinking styles. The thinking styles that will be discussed are emotionally, logically, creative, realistic, optimistically, pessimistically, divergently, and scientific style. Additionally, the following will discuss how to compare and contrast the three different types of thinking and comment on how each affects the critical-thinking process. Finally, the following will provide critical thinking to the decision-making process by discussing workplace examples that highlight each of the three different types of thinking. Logically Style Logical thinking is a style in which an individual feels that everyone should be thinking the same way as they do. Thinking logically can be either inductive or deductive. “Deductive thinking is the kind of reasoning that begins with two or more premises and derives a conclusion that must follow from those premises, a conclusion that is in fact contained or hidden in those very premises” (Kirby & Goodpaster, 2007, p. 156). “Inductive reasoning usually begins with a set of evidence or observations about some members of a class, or about some events” (Kirby & Goodpaster...
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...Decision making and Thinking is a part of our lives like breathing, people don’t stop to analyze why they use this process. People may think that thinking and decision making is a simple process, there are many styles of thinking for every issue people come across in their daily lives. The four different styles of critical thinking are creative, logical, scientific, and persuasive. The different styles of thinking are fit to the different issues and they require thought and analysis to find the best fit. The thinking styles each have a different effect on the issue, so one will need to think about this as another variable. People use the thinking styles to remember, and perceive information, and also solve problems. In this paper we will discuss the four types of Thinking and Decision making and give workplace examples for each. Scientific Thinking The style of scientific thinking has changed the world. In the field of medicine, scientists have been successful in finding cures for diseases, developing new drugs that can extend life, and treatments that can improve the quality of life have been invented through this important style of thinking. The four major steps in the scientific thinking process are observation, hypothesis formulation, experimentation, and verification (Kirby & Goodpaster, 2007). Scientific Thinking Decision Making Process Observation = Identify the problem Hypothesis...
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...Running head: Thinking and Decision Making 1 Thinking and Decision Making Paper Learning Team B MGT/350 Critical Thinking: Strategies in Decision Making Donna Rumrill, Eboni High, Portia Mack, Wesley Wendtland February 12, 2012 Instructor Michelle Malone Thinking and Decision Making 2 Decisions will have to be made as people go through life. In some cases, our decisions are big and then there are some cases where our decisions are small. When making decisions, there is a process that a person goes through. There are different types of thinking styles and thought processes. The way someone feels, believes, attitude, and associate ideas can contribute to their thinking style. There are numerous thinking styles and methods of thinking which usually makes thought processes individualized to where people think and make decisions differently. This paper will discuss and analyze three different types of thinking styles. The thinking styles that will be discussed in this paper are the persuasive, scientific and the pessimistic thinking style. This paper will compare and contrast the three different styles and discuss how each affects the critical thinking process. This paper will also incorporate critical thinking to the decision making process by including the discussion on workplace examples that involve the three different types...
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...Creative Thinking Creativity includes the process of changing from the old into something new. Creative thinking is very important to critical thinking. Creative thinking may be practice using: brainstorming, starbursting, and coaxing creativity. Creative thinking begins with brainstorming by allowing the mind to flow freely with ideas and thoughts. Brainstorming is more effective by individually versus a group. Another practice of creative thinking is starbursting. Starbursting focuses on a topic and generates various questions. Creative thinking affects critical thinking by using techniques such as brainstorming to allow the creative thinker to come up with possible solutions to a problem. Creative thinking is different from logical and scientific thinking because it allows the ability to solve problems with a proactive point of view and focuses on various thoughts and multiple solutions. Logical thinking Logical thinking includes the process of analyzing, reasoning, understanding and the dynamic of thinking that would achieve a specific target objective. Logical thinking is very important in critical thinking because it affects the final decision and a better solution. Logical thinking includes categorical syllogisms, hypothetical, and the disjunctive. Logical thinkers derive at solutions based on specific premises that provide insight into a specific solution while creative thinkers focuses on various thoughts and multiple solutions. Scientific thinking ...
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...Critical Thinking Today’s society is so caught up in the day-to- activities that individuals tend to forget how one thinks. We make choices, create ideas, come up with conclusions, and make decisions based on other people’s opinions. Everyone thinks but much of our thinking can be bias, unclear, partial, and uninformed. These often need careful thought and that is where critical thinking comes in. Thinking is often casual and informal, whereas critical thinking purposely evaluates the quality of thinking. Critical thinking is the ability to think for oneself and being able to make decisions that affect one’s life. Critical thinking is being able to use information, experiences, observation, and reasoning to guide one’s decisions, actions, and beliefs. According to Luke Muehlhauser there are sixteen techniques to critical thinking: “clarify, be accurate, be precise, be relevant, know your purpose, identify assumptions, check your emotions, empathize, know your own ignorance, be independent, think through implications, know your own biases, suspend judgment, consider the opposition, recognize cultural assumptions, and be fair not selfish” (2007, para. 8). These techniques are very helpful but sometimes can fall between the cracks. “Even when using tools and techniques to help with this, we tend to think about specific techniques of 'decision making' or 'idea generation' rather than the wider process of thinking” (Anonymous, 1995-2010, para. 2). If someone uses...
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...Thinking And Decision Making View Full Essay There are a number of different ways to describe how people think and make decisions. How one person thinks and makes decisions is usually never the same as another. Every person has a preferential approach in thinking to both solving problems and making decisions. Four basic types of critical thinking can be defined as: 1. Creative Thinking; this style of thinking has a fundamental ability to imagine, invent something new, or combine or change existing ideas. Creative thinking is also the ability to accept change and the willingness and flexibility to play with ideas and possibilities. (Harris, 1998) 2. Logical Thinking; is a learned mental process encompassing a process of constant reasoning to draw a conclusion. Logical thinking is more the basis of sequential thought, taking important ideas and arranging them together in steps. To comply with a logical thinking strategy; the essential criteria are to understand all the facts and procedures. 3. Scientific Thinking; relies on the behaviors of observing, hypothesizing, experimenting and classifying. These steps provide a sequence to prove the train of thought that closely resemble the scientific methods and processes. Scientific thinking realizes that emotions are not evidence, feelings are not facts, and subjective beliefs are not substantive beliefs.. (Schafersman, 1994) 4. Persuasive Thinking; is the ability to influence ourselves or others to accept a point...
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...opinions describes critical thinking. When people are thinking critically they are seeing views in an open-minded way. Critical thinking is important because it helps people adopt a view different from what they have and also to look beyond their own perception of things. Three main types of thinking styles are logical thinking, scientific thinking, and persuasive thinking. Within the three main thinking styles, they are all different from another but all express similarities and weaknesses. Each individual person has a primary style of thinking used the most to help with his or her decision-making process. With logical thinking a person uses reasoning consistently until he or she comes to a conclusion. Logical thinking has been proven to make a person “smarter.” Scientific thinking involves thinks like asking questions, using senses to gather information, and using words to express the reason something happened. Persuasive thinkers often follow a well-planned process because it allows them to recognize the different variables in the pursuit of persuasion. Reference: http://www.learninginfo.org “Logical Thinking: A Learned Mental Process Apply Critical Thinking to the Decision Making Process: Critical thinking and the decision making process are closely related. When a person exercises critical thinking he or she analyze the current situation, are involved in, and then apply facts or experiences to the decision-making. By learning critical thinking strategies, people...
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...Thinking and Decision Making Adults face opportunities to make decisions constantly. Each day, people decide how best to solve issues, plan for the future, make ethical decisions, and more. Some decisions require little to no extra thinking, with minimal consequences or benefits; whereas other decisions require much more time due to the magnitude of the decision, and its potential impact on the wellbeing of self or others. Important decisions can result in significant consequence or benefits. Many thinking styles exist with many similarities and dissimilarities. Persuasive, creative and scientific thinking styles offer techniques for problem solving. Individuals using various forms of critical thinking may be unaware of the techniques employed. Strength in problem solving is gained through exploring and learning about three of the many thinking styles. Comparing and Contrasting Thinking Styles The unleashed creative thinking style has the capability to produce much original, even brilliant thought. Creative thought processes new and wondrous ideas using techniques such as the metaphor, brainstorming and star-bursting. Creativity occurs within every distinct area of thinking. Creative thought does not present itself best under just any circumstances; it is most effective when the individual is courageous, calm, and has eliminated many of the barriers that could inhibit ones creative potential. This loose, freewheeling style of thinking is in stark contrast to both...
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...Thinking Logically Thinking logically is a vital part of critical thinking. When using logic, a person can make a decision based on the facts and not on his or her emotions. To reach a decision through logical thinking, both inductive and deductive reasoning can be used. Inductive reasoning usually begins with a general observation about a person, thing, or event. From this observation someone draws a conclusion about other people, things, or events (cite book). Managers use inductive thinking in business. For example, a district manager may receive a report that shows that profit is down in a specific region. That manager may come to the conclusion that salespeople in that area are not working at capacity. Although this may be true, further research may show that there are other forces behind the profit loss in that region. For this reason, inductive reasoning can be both strong and weak. Deductive thinking is reasoning that begins with two or more premises and derives a conclusion that must follow from those premises, a conclusion that is in fact contained or hidden in those premises (Kirby & Goodpaster, 2007). Deductive thinking is formed by using a syllogism. A syllogism is a sequence of three propositions such that the first two propositions imply the conclusion ("Syllogism," 2010). A syllogism contains three premises: major, minor, and conclusive. An example of a syllogism would be that all humans need food and water to survive. John is human. Therefore, John cannot...
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...Running head: SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY PAPER Scientific Discovery Paper On Penicillin Tracey Ann Elledge University of Phoenix, Las Vegas NV Creative Minds and Critical Thinking PHL 458 Cornell Horn, M.A.; M.A. December 01, 2009 Scientific Discovery Paper Penicillin is an antibiotic that destroys bacteria by destroying the cell wall of the microorganism. It does this by inactivating an enzyme necessary for the cross linking of bacterial cell walls. The enzyme is known as the Tran peptidase. It accepts the penicillin as a substrate, it the alkanolates a nucleophilic oxygen of the enzyme, rendering it inactive. Cell wall construction stops and the bacteria soon die. The antibiotic nature of the penicillin so due to the strain lactam ring, on opening the ring strain is relieved this makes penicillin more reactive than ordinary amides. Before penicillin a simple pinprick or tiny cut could have been lethal. There are so many people easily catching infections that would rage out of control. Children died regularly from scarlet fever, from infections of the bones, throat, stomach or, brain. Many of us would not be here today had it not been for the discovery of penicillin. In 1928, Alexander Fleming made a chance discovery from an already discarded, contaminated Petri dish. The mold that had contaminated the experiment turned out to contain powerful antibiotic, penicillin. However, though Fleming was credited with the discovery, it was over a decade...
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...Understanding the Doctoral Research Process Julia Coy-Ybarra Northcentral University November 24, 2013 Understanding the Doctoral Research Process An obvious factor in understanding the doctoral research process is having chosen the right academy to pursue the doctorate. Other deciding factor are the reference resources that are easily accessible to the student—a Writing Center and a Library database. The ultimate decision is choosing the right specialization program. Once these are done, what follows are organization, commitment, and dedication to the doctoral process. Introduction Following university standards is the threshold to acquiring a doctorate. Hence, these standards are the Academic Integrity Guidelines, APA writing standards, understanding the function of the School of Education, and the online function of your Academic Advisor. An online commitment to pursue a Doctorate is a very solitary commitment. The process will fail to provide any personal face-to-face interaction between student and mentor, between student and advisor, bantering with colleagues, or befriending the Dean of the School in any way but grades. Consequently, the student must make a commitment and prepare for this singular or introverted activity. The Research Process Nevertheless, in order to fully understanding the research process of the doctoral process, one needs to select a topic that...
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...Thinking and Decision Making NAME University of Phoenix COURSE/NUMBER PROF. NAME DATE Thinking and Decision Making In today’s society thinking styles and decision making are numerous and a decision- maker must have the skill set of thinking clearly and applying them to arrive at an equitable decision that is right for the purpose intended. Diverse people think differently and as such different ways in coming to a decision. However, thinking styles are as different as are people and as such there many different ways to think and come to the decisions. Thinking styles are many, but three styles that will be written about are: creative, logical, and scientific, these methods are commonly used at arriving to a decision, whether in personal or in business situations. Individuals approach various methods of thinking in ways that are somewhat inherent to their teaching or the skills that have been reinforced in formal schooling or other setting. This paper will examine similarities and differences between the three thinking styles such as creative, logical and scientific. By learning more about these thinking styles one will be able to learn more about the differences so that a workforce or an individual can be better equipped to analyze situations and make decisions. Creative Thinking To stimulate curiosity and promote divergence, clever business people think creatively. Creative thinking involves creatively generating something new or original then critically evaluating...
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...Chapter 2: Research in Psychology Francine Shapiro/Critical Thinking Tested if eye movements have caused the change in her emotions During and after these eye movement sessions, their reactions to unpleasant thoughts faded away Their emotional flashbacks decreased dramatically Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing: EMDR Critical Thinking: The process of assessing claims and making judgements on the basis of well supported evidence What am I being asked to believe or accept?- If EMDR reduces or eliminates anxiety related problems What evidence is available to support the assertion?- Experienced a reduction in her own emotional distress following certain kinds of eye movements Are there alternative ways of interpreting the evidence?- Dramatic effects might not have been due to EMDR but to people’s desire to overcome their problems or perhaps their desire to prove her right The ruling out process leads to the next step in critical thinking: conducting scientific research What additional evidence would help to evaluate the alternatives?- The ideal method for collecting further evidence would be to identify three groups of people with anxiety- related problems who were alike in every way except for the anxiety treatment they received What conclusions are most reasonable?- The research evidence collected so far hasn’t yet ruled out alternative explanations for the effects of EMDR Only reasonable conclusions EMDR remains a controversial treatment It seems to have...
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